Deviled Shrimp

I went to the mainland for church today, I hadn't been there yet and was really needing some spiritual worship. I feel the church here on the Island that I am attending is lacking that so every few weeks I head into town for a service. The Spanish service really delivered that. It was awesome.

I got home tired (Mazatlan is always tiring) and hot, oh so hot, It feels that  the heat is so much more intense on the mainland, must be all the concrete and tall buildings, plus our Island is so small you are never too far from the ocean breeze....it was hot. Soon as I got home I shed my church clothes and jumping into a pair of shorts and a tank top and headed to the beach in search for food, I had a Danish at breakfast and no lunch, it is now 3:30 pm...I am starved.

I pass the chicken place, come times on Sunday she has carne asada, but she had only chicken left and I don't feel like having chicken. I go to the Toro Viajo(Old bull). Sister pulls up a chair for me, I order Camaron diablo. I chat with the waiter. The breeze is so welcome, I love this place....it's hot, but it's not like in the city.

A few days ago Nina's son got a water craft...not sure how and where, but it wasn't running, it was someone's junk. Since then it has been a project for a few guys to get it running, all of a sudden it fired up...briefly. We all cheer, there is hope, sister laughs, she says they  have been tinkering on it all day. It fired up a few more times each  time we cheer and follow with a loud "awwwwwww" as the engine dies.

I get my shrimp.....oh my gosh, it is the best shrimp I have ever had (I've eaten a lot of shrimp), the diablo sauce is the best. I ask her what's in the sauce, she winks and says it's  a secret, I wink back and say "it's a good one". Just spicy enough for me, I like a little kick in my food but I don't like my guts to burn, just enough spice to wake up all my taste buds in my mouth, but not to burn when it goes down the hatch....she had hit it perfectly.

The water craft fires up and stays running...victory. A quad  pulls it into the water and some more guys show up to watch, you know how it is when men tinker, 2 men do the work and 4 stand around giving advice...that was the scene, even the kid on the prancing horse stopped and stood and watched, horse and quad are parked side by side....I didn't have my camera. Test run was perfect...looks like the Old bull now has a water craft for rent as well as a kayak and boogie boards. Of course all 6 bystanders have to test it out because you know, just because it works for one guys doesn't mean it will work for everyone.....and then you have to see if it will work if there are 2 people on it...like one guy and a pretty girl in a bikini...yup, that worked too.

I am done my shrimp, sucked the meat out of every single tail I did and supped up all the excess sauce with tortillas...and licked my fingers. I ask again "ok, what's the secret sauce". She tells me again it's a secret...she is serious, she is not going to share this....how can this be, we are sisters after all. I have to have this recipe. I ask the dude if he knows it, nope he does not. Do I push this or not, I ponder this a bit. I want this bad, I put my arm around her and whisper "if you please tell me, I won't tell anyone in the whole world". The Spanish way of saying "everyone" is "todos el mundo" which translates into "the whole world", which does make more sense. When we say "everyone" we usually don't really mean that, but when they say "everyone" they mean everyone in the whole world. She laughs, I beg and promise again. Then she shows me....it's magic, and as much as I want, I cannot share that with you or with anyone else in the whole world. ( the internet is the whole world) So sorry.

The good news she is now open all week except for Thursdays....so go check it out, if you do not like spicy food you cannot have camaron diablo...sorry, she does garlic shrimp too, and coconut and breaded deep fried, I've had it all, it's all good. If you are familiar with the Island, the old bull is located next to "victors" east side of him. She is between "Victors" and the cantina.

The sun is setting and we pack up all the chairs and tables and close up. She sends me off with a pot of soup and some rice to drop off at her mother's (my tia) ...she lives across the street from me.

You could eat  and lay in this hammock all day and never be bored....I promise, there is never a dull moment here, worst case scenario you have a great nap

 An update on my back yard. Turns out my bricklayer guy that isn't a bricklayer at all but a fisherman forgot to renew his passport so, when his ship was ready to go to Panama he was not. If your job depends on you having a passport how do you forget to tend to that? He has no wife...that's how. So now he is stuck working for me until the next voyage. Check it out. This is before....

before

after

Not bad. The next project is painting the house from the outside...I hate that kind of painting. I wonder how bricklayer/fisherman feels about painting, he is never ever going to forget to renew his passport again.